


expect

by teddylupin_snape



Series: close your eyes and i'm right there [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Lily's got news for James, and quite a few nervous traits but who doesn't, pregnant!lily
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 12:40:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17447189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teddylupin_snape/pseuds/teddylupin_snape
Summary: Lily tells James she's pregnant





	expect

                Lily always picked at her fingers when she was nervous. It was a habit her mother had tried to get her out of for as long as Lily could remember. Nothing she’d ever done had worked, though. The skin around her thumb started to bleed by the time James had gotten home.

                “Hey,” he said, closing the front door behind him and making his way over to her.

                Lily pulled her legs up onto the sofa, wrapping one arm around them and the other around James as he sat on her left. She leaned her head onto his shoulder. “I thought you’d be home hours ago.”

                James kissed the top of her head, pulling her into a hug. “Sorry, got stuck helping Remus. Finally finished moving all his things over to Sirius’s new flat. It’s about time they finally suck it up and live together, you reckon?” He’d been helping his friends rearrange furniture all day—his back was killing him, and his feet were throbbing. When James glanced back at Lily, all thought of his pain was gone. “Everything alright?” He shot a pointed glance at her abandoned tea cup, the liquid still filled to the brim.

                “You know I always forget about my tea,” she murmured. James rolled his eyes, raising an eyebrow. Lily avoided his eye contact but didn’t move away from him. She swallowed. Her face was pale, drawn—more from the stress of war than anything. Or, at least, it usually was. Tonight, she knew her stress had a different source. “I’m fine.”

                “What happened?”

                With a sigh, Lily looked up at James. Sometimes, she hated how well he knew her. She could never keep anything secret from him, not that she really wanted to. But right now, telling him what was on her mind was much harder than keeping it from him. James’s eyes grew concerned, and Lily bit her lip. Now or never.

                “I’m pregnant.”

                The words hung in the air for a long moment. James’s gaze was focused somewhere above Lily’s head. She frantically searched his face for any sign of a reaction. He normally was the type to wear his heart on his sleeve. It was off-putting now, Lily being unable to tell what he was thinking.

                She opened her mouth to speak, but then a smile broke over his face. “Pregnant?”

                “Pregnant.”

                “That’s wonderful! A baby, blimey! We’re going to be parents?”

                Lily gave a weak chuckle. She wasn’t sure how he could be this easily accepting of the concept. Having a baby at twenty, in the midst of a war was ridiculous. There was nothing but joy on James’s face. It calmed her down a bit, in the way James had only ever been able to. She found herself smiling feebly back at him. “Parents. Even though I swear we just started Hogwarts yesterday. You can’t convince me it’s been eight years.” Lily looked back down at her hands, running her finger over the side of her thumb. The skin there was broken and ragged; she itched to pick at it, but James put his hands on hers. He rubbed circles on her palms, then held her hands in both of his own.

                “You’re really excited about this?” she asked, unable to keep the note of skepticism from her voice.

                “Really. Aren’t you?”

                She sighed again, squeezing his hands gently. “I will be, I’m sure. It’s just…a lot.”

                James nodded. There was a knowing look in his eyes. It held a confidence so strong, it convinced Lily that they might be okay after all. With slightly shaking fingers, Lily held the band of her wedding ring. She twisted it nervously, feeling James’s eyes on her.

                “You’re not alone here, Lils. I’m here for you, every step of the way. I’m not going anywhere.”

                “I know.”


End file.
